Host: 

University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett RI

In February 2005, COSEE-NE convened a meeting of a handful of New England's leaders in ocean science education programs that included partnerships between educators and researchers. Our purpose was to try out the idea of working together for mutual benefit by asking ourselves two questions:

1) Were there things that we could do together that would further our individual program aims?

2) Did we have collective interests that we wanted to pursue?

The virtual organization that emerged from this conversation was the New England Ocean Sciences Education Collaborative (NEOSEC).

In December 2005, the hosted a second, broader-based meeting, framing the discussion around the new Ocean Science Literacy principles.

We affirmed a NEOSEC mission, vision and goals and we moved forward in the following ways:

NEOSEC Governance and Infrastructure

• We will establish a NEOSEC Council to provide the leadership and decision-making for the regional network

• The Council will be responsible for planning, prioritizing, tasking work groups, monitoring progress on activities, and facilitating communication within the region

• COSEE-NE will designate the first chair for the NEOSEC Council by 12/23/05 [Billy Spitzer has agreed to be the initial chair.]

• Each institution will designate a lead and an alternate representative for the NEOSEC Council by 1/31/06

• The NEOSEC Council will initiate ongoing conference calls and periodic meetings to support the regional network beginning in 2/06

• One representative from NEOSEC will be linked to the COSEE National Network

• COSEE-NE will serve as the communication hub for NEOSEC in terms of providing an electronic infrastructure, including:
  • NEOSEC listserv
  • NEOSEC website

Ocean Science Literacy (OSL)

• We agree to adopt the ocean science literacy framework (OSL) and proactively incorporate OSL into each of our institution’s programs, resources, etc.

• We will convene a New England Summit focused on OSL by December 2006 (Summit committee chaired by COSEE-NE Pam DiBona, with team of volunteers)

Background materials

Click to download Billy Spitzer's "Setting the Context" presentation (pdf)

Click to download Sarah Shoedinger's (NOAA) "Ocean Literacy: A Short History " presentation (pdf)